Syracuse vs. Cornell lacrosse preview: The historic rivalry is set to add another great chapter

A rivalry that dates back to the days of the legendary “Air Gait”. A pair of programs that have seen continued success since the sport was introduced to the NCAA in 1971. Two teams that have battled down to the wire in multiple national championships.

Syracuse and Cornell.

1988: The first championship matchup between the squads packed over 20,000 fans into Syracuse, New York to witness the Orangemen cap off their undefeated season with a win over the Big Red 13-8.

The Syracuse team featured the Gait brothers, Paul and Gary Gait, along with lacrosse Hall-of-Famer Tom Marechek. Cornell was led by two-time All-American attackman Tim Goldstein who stamped his name all over the Big Red record books.

2009: Arguably the craziest lacrosse national championship in history. The two squads met in Boston, Cornell controlled the game throughout. The Big Red took a 3-goal lead into the final five minutes of the game, but saw that lead quickly diminish to 1. With four seconds remaining in regulation, Syracuse’s Kenny Nims dove into the crease and scored to send it to overtime. A back-and-forth overtime was capped by the Orange’s Cody Jamieson when he golfed it into the twine and claimed title number 11 for ‘Cuse.

2018: Syracuse is coming off momentum-building wins over top-10 opponents Duke and Notre Dame. The Orange are led by sophomores Jamie Trimboli and Stephen Rehfuss who have racked up 49 points together already this season. Not to be left unsaid, Syracuse’s defense and senior goalkeeper Dom Madonna collectively have allowed just 10 totals goals in their past two games.

2 in a row!

After today’s results the Orange are the No. 1 seed in the ACC Tournament for the second-straight season. pic.twitter.com/KnFyIJjx0v

Cornell rolls in with its offense churning out peanut butter with an unreal number of recent goals. The Big Red are led by a sophomore of their own. Jeff Teat has lit up every category on the stat sheet averaging 6.5 points-per-game, including a 12-point performance Saturday against Harvard(4 goals, 8 assists). As a team they average more than 15 goals-a-game and continue to climb up the rankings.

The two clash playing some of their best lacrosse. There may not be any “Air Gait” or buzzer-beating goals, but expect nothing less than another game for the ages when these two meet again in Ithaca, New York.